Dawn of the Dead

When her young daughter is turned into a zombie and attacks her father, Ana (Sarah Polley) just manages to escape, only to realize her entire Milwaukee neighborhood has been overrun by the walking dead. After being questioned by cautious policeman Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Ana joins him and a small group that gravitates to the local shopping mall as a bastion of safety. Once they convince suspicious security guards that they are not contaminated, the group bands together to fight the undead hordes.

Dawn of the Dead

Parental Guide

Extremely gory horror movie; not for kids.

Consumerism

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Drinking, drugs & smoking

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Language

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Positive messages

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Positive role models

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Sex

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Violence

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Parents need to know that this 2004 Dawn of the Dead is an extremely violent remake of George A. Romero's 1978 horror film of the same name. Perhaps the violence should come as no surprise, since this is, after all, a zombie film. Expect lots of blood, bites to the throat, vast armies of zombies shot in the head by shotguns, as well as moments of gore like eye stabbings and a head impaled with a spike. There's also considerable profanity, and some of the characters fill the empty hours of hiding out in the shopping mall from the zombies waiting outside by drinking and having sex. While this film delivers what horror fans want and expect from the genre -- including zombies moving at a much faster, more aggressive pace than typically seen in zombie movies -- for younger viewers and people who aren't horror fans, he violence and gore will be too much.